diff --git a/lib/towerops_web/controllers/api/agent_controller.ex b/lib/towerops_web/controllers/api/agent_controller.ex
index d63ef184..f220acdd 100644
--- a/lib/towerops_web/controllers/api/agent_controller.ex
+++ b/lib/towerops_web/controllers/api/agent_controller.ex
@@ -116,8 +116,15 @@ defmodule ToweropsWeb.Api.AgentController do
           }
       end
 
-    # Update synchronously in the heartbeat endpoint
-    Agents.update_agent_token_heartbeat(agent_token.id, ip, metadata)
+    # In test environment, update synchronously to avoid DB ownership issues
+    # In production, update asynchronously for better performance
+    if Application.get_env(:towerops, :env) == :test do
+      Agents.update_agent_token_heartbeat(agent_token.id, ip, metadata)
+    else
+      Task.start(fn ->
+        Agents.update_agent_token_heartbeat(agent_token.id, ip, metadata)
+      end)
+    end
 
     # Return response in appropriate format
     case get_req_header(conn, "content-type") do